Reduce Wasted Food - 食料廃棄の削減 -

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Annual World Food Day is held every October 16 to raise public concern in food security to fight hunger and poverty. Experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated over 870 million hungry people in the world while 1.3 billion tons of foods are dumped in the garbage due to lack of awareness.

Industrialized countries have abundant food supply thus a tendency taking it for granted. Less attractive produce though still perfectly edible are discarded by retailers to please the public. Consumers buy too much and toss the excess without meal planning.

In the developing world either the farmers suffer crop failures owing to weather, insects, or unable to harvest the crops efficiently because of inadequate equipment. Inefficient transportation and lack of refrigerated trucks lead to more losses in transit. Consumers waste less food since they have so little which they value most.

Tremendous amount of wasted food has financial, social and economic effects and depletes the environment of limited natural resources. Vast quantity of rotting food going to landfills creates more methane that contributes significantly to climate change.

Rather than haul leftovers to landfills many organizations discovered an option called the “Food Cycler” that disinfects and turns potentially harmful food scraps into safe, sterilized compost. Food banking in several countries rescues surplus food and delivers them for charity.

Personal steps by just buying the food needed to throw away less, patronizing safe and favorable food stuff even if it has a slight imperfect appearance or bringing meals home that aren’t finished in restaurants can make meaningful difference.